Project Micca
by MiccaAbernathy
Summary: Before, Micca Owens was a kickass Colonel-until a strange Doctor for Umbrella gave her an offer she should have (but couldn't) refuse. Now, Micca is in the middle of an outbreak and must fight to survive while at the same time coping with the changes happening to her body that are altering her DNA. Along the way she meets another experiment, Alice. (full summary inside. M 4 Ltr Ch)
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Before, Micca Owens was a kickass Colonel-until a strange Doctor for Umbrella gave her an offer she should have (but couldn't) refuse. Now, Micca is in the middle of an outbreak and must fight to survive while at the same time coping with the changes happening to her body that are altering her DNA. Along the way she meets another experiment, Alice. As their relationship develops, so do more problems with Umbrella. Together the two experiments will find answers and bring the Corporation down. (will be rated M for later Chapters.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its amazing characters.

A/N: Guys, I am SO SO SOOO sorry it took sooo long. Ive been promising this story for a long time, but I haven't been able to publish because of computer problems. But here it is, finally. The first chapter of Project Micca.

Project Micca

Chapter 1

Colonel Owens just couldn't shake the feeling that today was going to be one of those days. Those days were your entire life was going to change. That feeling you get when you knew you were going to be promoted or fired was exactly the feeling she had right now as she walked through the halls of the Pentagon. She'd been requested by her superior for an audience in his office.  
She wasn't nervous; she was never nervous in this sort of situation. Maybe when she was a Private First Class, but that was years ago. Five years? Yes, five years. She'd been in the military for ten years, joined right after her early graduation from high school, on her graduation day. Since she can remember, ever since that day in Baltimore, all she has ever wanted to do was protect. And in those short ten years, shed breezed through the ranks and wars, and was finally a Colonel. The military wasn't stupid enough to let go someone of her skill. They needed her.  
Colonel Owens rapped quickly twice on General Critchton's office door, and after a brief pause, she entered, instantly taking in the three men in the room. She internally rolled her eyes, she should've changed out of her PT attire. Oh well. One man was dressed in an expensive looking suit, another looked like a Special Tactics Officer and the third was the General. She closed the door, saluted and when given leave, stood at ease.  
"Colonel, this is Doctor Isaacs," the General introduced and Owens shook the man's hand and gave a curt nod, "and he has a proposal I think you will want to hear." Owens raised a brow inquisitively at the doctor, whose lips twitched at a smirk.  
"Colonel Owens, I am the lead scientist at the Umbrella Corporation, and presently my section is conducting a study on a…" he seemed to consider how to word it, "…serum, that will enhance genetic abilities such as strength, speed and agility as well as accelerated healing. However, we've hit a snag in our research."  
Owens furrowed her brows, "A snag, doctor?" the good doctor nodded and clasped his hands behind his back.  
"Yes, you see, we are ready to conduct live experiments on humans but, as you can imagine, very few people are willing to take such risks and considering our earlier experiments on animals, I don't blame them." He said with just the right amount of compassion.  
"I hear a 'but' in there somewhere." Owens said dryly, narrowing her eyes slightly. Again, the doctor almost smirked.  
"General Critchton wasn't exaggerating when he said you were intelligent." He said smoothly, and Owens bristled a little, but controlled it, "our research requires a subject with exemplary physical and mental performance prior to injection. The general suggested that I give the offer to you."  
Colonel Owens shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest, "What offer?"  
"To be our test subject."  
Again the Colonel bristled and she raised another brow, "You want me to be your lab rat?" she asked a little bit disgruntled.  
The doctor raised a hand in surrender, "Please, I meant no offense. With this serum, you will gain superhuman abilities that by far surpass your fellow soldiers, and therefore you will be better able to protect and serve the civilians of our beloved country."

Owens narrowed her eyes further but before she could open her mouth to reply, the general who had been quiet this entire time spoke up, "Micca, this is a perfect opportunity to better our forces. If this serum is a success, every soldier in the armed forces will receive it, and our people will never need fear of an outside attack again." He said softly and Micca sighed. She had to admit, this was perfect. She would never fail to protect again. She looked at the doctor.  
"Alright," she consented and the doctor nodded with a smile.  
"Wonderful." He said and the general smiled at Micca. She returned it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to regret agreeing to this. 

Scorching, screaming, and slashing, on every nerve ending. Her body was on fire. All she knew was the agony that was flooding through her veins. She wanted to convulse, to scream, anything to ease it. But she couldn't move, she couldn't make a sound, she couldn't even blink. She was helpless and vulnerable against the fraying of her nerves. At the mercy of the scientists surrounding her.  
There were needles connected to tubes inserted in various places of her body, including a shaven area on her head near her temple. Each tube was feeding what she had been told was a serum that was in reality a virus, into her blood. Into her brain. Changing her, making her something less than human.  
She was lied to. They told her it was a serum to enhance the army's abilities. To enhance her ability to protect. Lies! All of it lies!  
It was a virus. Viral weaponry.  
They were making her a monster.  
Her pain was just the beginning. Soon, the whole world would be changed. Soon, the world would end.  
Finally, Micca's world...went black.

Her eyes fluttered open, only to be squeezed shut again against the bright light of the sterile room she was in. She slowly sat up, only to scream in agonized anger at the needles in her arms, thighs and sides. With a painful yowl, Micca tore the various needles out, taking more care of the ones from her brain.  
She didn't remember where she was, or why she was there, but she did know, that whoever brought her here, had done something to her and now she didn't feel human anymore.  
She needed to get out of this place, where ever it was, and get the hell out of dodge.  
Her eyes trained on the card slider on the wall by the steel door. She glowered and stumbled off the steel bed she had been on and caught her weight on her hands on the edge. She mentally growled at herself for her weakened state. She yanked a needle from a tube and shuffled over to the key card slider. Sliders where more difficult to pick, but not impossible. She was glad she'd taken the time to figure out how to do such things during her time in boot camp, with that knowledge, stabbing the needle in the right place on the slider to bypass the security lock was relatively easy.  
As the door swung open, and she was met with the hall of a hospital, her memories came flooding back. Dr. Isaacs, the serum, the lies. Her expression darkened considerably as anger and hatred nearly consumed her, and her strength came with it.  
She turned to the left, and saw on a plaque, _'Project Micca'_ engraved in white. She gave a rueful laugh and stumbled away down the hall. Something wasn't right. The halls of the hospital were completely devoid of any sign of life, or activity. She narrowed her eyes and took a lab coat from the back of an abandoned desk chair and slipped it on, holding it closed around her body. '_Okay, first things first_.' She thought as she sat in front of a computer in the admittance office. She clicked on the monitor. "Damn," she breathed. Password required. She'd hoped it wouldn't have been logged out. She took a breath and started searching the desk for any clues of what the password could possibly be. From the items she found on the desk, the owner was female, which meant the password would most likely be related to something they'd cared for, or were passionate about. Micca opened a drawer and found a picture of a woman with an infant.

She turned the image over. Keran, dated 12/22 and the year was faded. The former Colonel tacked in the name Keran and as she was about to hit enter, an echoing monstrous sounding growl reverberated through the deserted hallways. Micca furrowed her brows and looked towards the opened door of the office. Her accelerated heartbeat and the screaming of her gut of danger was not lost on her. She could sense that whatever had made that sound, was made by whatever virus they had injected her with, and that it was a few hallways over. She frowned. She didn't like that feeling. She stood and closed the door then returned to the chair and clicked the enter button. Access was granted.  
Once she was in the computer, she looked for the present date. She froze and confusion mixed with anger flooded her. Three days. She'd been in that damn coma for a week while she was experimented on. She clicked on the icon for hospital files, scrolled through to find the file labeled Micca Owens, and clicked on it. What she found, greatly disturbed her. But she still didn't know enough about what was happening to her body. Micca huffed and exited the file then deleted it. But before she logged out of the computer, another file caught her attention. Scanned copies of newspapers from the last few days were inside. She read with growing horror and anger as the last remaining pieces of the puzzle clicked into place in her mind.  
The virus got out. The dead were walking. All of Raccoon City had been infected in seven days.  
"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." Micca murmured as yet another haunting echo resounded through the hospital. It was getting closer. Micca turned her head to the door again and clicked out of the computer and rose from the chair, just as she heard the clicking of claws on tile just outside the office door. She controlled her breathing with some effort and backed silently away from the office door. She sneered as realization struck. She was made to survive this new world she'd awoken to. Isaacs' words "_She will be evolution…"_ haunted her present thoughts. She was no longer human. The thought angered her further, and she kicked the door of the office off its hinges to crash into what she knew had once been a dog, but was now five times the size, hairless, decomposing and bloody and had a face composed of an unnaturally large brain and the remainder of a dog's head. Aside from its gruesome appearance, the first thing Micca noticed, was the stench. She could smell the virus in it, and that it was infected on a massive level that sent her blood singing. But she could also smell its desire to kill her. To kill anything in its path.  
The creature snarled and stood, blood dripping from its detached jowls. Without thinking, Micca took an IV rack and snapped it over her knee, resulting in two splintered halves of the metal rod. The infected beast roared and pounced on her, but she had faster reflexes from her increased speed, and agilely twisted out of the way, thrusting one of the halves of the metal rod deep into the exposed and mutilated brain of the once dog. If the dead were walking, like some sort of reality version of the _Night of the Living Dead_, then the brain was the way to go to kill it. And it worked, the creature squealed and fell in a mutilated heap at Micca's feet.  
Startled by her unnatural agility and speed, and ease in which she'd slain the creature, Micca turned and dropped the other half of the rack, then walked towards the exit of the hospital.

What Micca saw when she stepped foot outside the hospital, made her tense up and slow in her stride. Chaos. Utter chaos. Cars were abandoned and left haphazardly in the street, debris and papers littered the asphalt, blood was splattered randomly on car doors and on window sills of the surrounding buildings from people frantically trying to escape whatever had happened here. Instantly she knew that what she'd read in the scans was true, and that the once leisurely Raccoon City, was no longer a safe place to be. She breathed, remembering her survival training and broke into an abandoned police vehicle, and armed herself with the shot gun that was located inside. The next thing she needed to do was get to a hunting retail store, to find herself suitable clothing and weapons, then maybe find a working ride.

The former Colonel grinned ruefully to herself. Maybe she could locate a nice Harley. With her senses on high alert, she quickly and cautiously made her way down the street to locate an outdoor activities store.

If she had been anyone else, she would have been more distraught at her situation. She had just been taken to an illegal lab, experimented on and woken up in a city she was not in the least bit familiar with, in the middle of what would surely be the next apocalypse while her body was going through a series of changes she didn't know about resulting from said experimentation. But she wasn't in the least bit overwhelmed; she was unsure and wary, a little bit afraid, but these were conditions she was familiar with and thrived in. And in her current situation, she didn't have the time to sit and ponder, and fret about what was going on inside of her body. Micca needed to focus on survival, and escaping the city, and then she could find the time to figure out what was happening to her. Though she had the distinct feeling that she would figure it out on the fly and through experience, so she wasn't going to waste any time mulling her altered genetic make-up over in her thoughts. She was going to survive and escape, and then rain hell upon the Umbrella Corporation.

Micca trekked expertly through the deranged streets of Raccoon City, climbing over various cars and debris that blocked her path. She was greatly unnerved by how silent she was, even to her own augmented hearing. She didn't let that dampen her progress however. She had a mission to complete, and worrying about things she could not control wouldn't aid her in that mission. She kept having to remind herself not to dwell on what had been done to her until she had made it safely out of the city. She may not know exactly what was going on around her, but she knew Umbrella, and the military. They would do what they needed to, to neutralize the situation, and keep the outbreak contained. Which meant nuking Raccoon City. She couldn't waste any time.

Finally, she found what she was looking for, and kicked in the glass of the front display window of the Outdoor Sporting Goods outlet, then climbed inside. As soon as she saw the weapons on the back wall, she felt her blood come alive with excitement and anticipation. Micca cleared the building of any undead or other nightmarish creatures and quickly adorned herself with clothing and weapons. She slipped on some cargo jeans, a tube top, archer's gauntlets and fingerless gloves. She pulled on some steel toed boots and strapped on various holsters and sheaths on her thighs, back and sides filling them with multiple weapons until she was armed to the teeth. She filled her pockets on her cargos with ammunition and strapped on a quiver of arrows for the compact bow she lifted in her grip, relishing the feel of the steel on her skin and the weight in her hand.

As she turned to head out of the store, a white hot pain shot through her body, from her toes to her scalp, sending her crumpling to the ground with a low agonized cry. In her pain induced haze, she glanced up while gripping the sides of her head in her elbows, her hands clasped behind her head, and saw in the reflective surface of an outdoor stainless steel grill, her reflection. But the eyes of the reflection, were not her usual icy blue hue. The eyes that stared back at her, though filled with pain and obviously hers, were a bright almost glowing amber color that reminded her of a predator of the night.

With another low cry, she squeezed her eyes shut against another flare of pain that slowly faded away again. The ex-military dog stayed hunched over on the floor holding her head, taking in deep and slow sweet breaths. After many moments while feeling drained and more than a little abused, Micca raised her head and this time in the reflection she met, her ice blue orbs gazed back at her. Shakily the dark haired soldier stood and drew in a wavering breath to steady herself, and with renewed vigor made her way back onto the streets of the decimated city.

After ten minutes of hiking through the chaotic streets, Micca suddenly halted in her path, listening. She turned just in time to block a swing of a baton at her head. Without thinking, Micca twisted her arm around in an arc until the baton slid into her hand and tucked it into the crook of her arm, at the same time kicking outwards. Her booted foot made contact with the soft flesh of an abdomen, and the baton was released from her attackers hold. In one fluid motion, Micca pulled one of her Glocks and loaded it before pointing it at her attacker. She froze when she saw the person's face. A teenage girl with auburn hair was staring up at her wide fearful honey colored eyes. She recognized the girl. Mary Kay. Her niece.

Mary Kay blinked, "M-micca?"

The older woman sighed and holstered her glock as she crouched to pull the girl up onto her feet, "Mary Kay…just what did you think you were doing?" she asked a little bit annoyed.

The teen had the decency to look impish, "I-I thought you were one of those…things," she answered frightfully, and Micca bit back on a smart remark and instead gave the girl her baton.

"Stay close to me, and keep quiet," she ordered, and didn't wait for a reply as she turned and continued on her way, knowing the younger girl would follow her without question. Micca knew she shouldn't be surprised to find Mary Kay in Raccoon City since her brother, Mary Kay's father, moved them there some four years ago, but the last she heard, her brother and Mary Kay's mother Martha had divorced and Martha won custody of the redheaded teen and moved them back to Washington State. She'd thought the teen was still in Washington.

As expected, Mary Kay followed her Aunt without any question, and stayed as close as she could without hindering the soldier from any ability to fight or draw weapons. Micca suspected she kept the distance because she could sense that Micca was different now. Her suspicions were confirmed a few minutes after the sun had full set, casting the cluttered city into eerie darkness.

"Micca…what happened to you?" Mary Kay voice quietly into the night. Her aunt's sudden drop in mood as soon as the question was voiced wasn't lost on the girl as she took the older woman's hand that was offered to help her over a flipped police car. Mary Kay also noted that Micca's touch was colder than she remembered.

It was a long while before Micca finally opened her mouth to speak, "I'm not human anymore M.K.," she answered finally, thankful that her niece didn't shy away in fear at the admission.

"What do you mean?"

"Umbrella did something to me…I'm not even sure what it is yet," Micca sighed and hoisted the girl over yet another toppled vehicle.

Micca had to give her credit. She soaked in the information without as much as a wary glance in the direction of her Aunt. This eased the older woman quite a bit, making her release a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. If she were to be honest with herself, Micca would say that she was afraid. Afraid of what had been done to her, of what would happen to her because of it, and if it made her a danger to those around her. She had never wanted anything more than to protect and serve, and if that ability had been taken from her by turning her into something dangerous, Micca didn't know what she would do. Because she was sure that the virus in her system wouldn't allow her to die. She already knew that she healed rather quickly. The puncture wounds from the needles were already completely healed in a matter of a few hours.

Stubbornly, the ex-soldier shoved such dark thoughts from her mind, reminding herself that there was a mission she had to complete. Get Mary Kay the hell out of the city before it was blown to hell. With that set firmly in the forefront of her already overactive mind, Micca turned a corner only to jump back behind a wall, shoving Mary Kay flush against it, and pressing herself to it as well.

She felt her niece cringe beside her when a loud and ferocious roar echoed against the brick and steel of the surrounding buildings. The sound was guttural and metallic, like iron against stone, and a hissing sound followed immediately after. Without permission, Micca's breathing hastened, and her heartbeat became erratic. Her muscles tensed and locked up as her mind reeled. New fear shot through her.

She _wanted_ to attack whatever manner of creature was on the other side of the wall. She wanted to _kill_ it, make it suffer. This new revelation scared her, and she almost turned and ran back the way they came, but if she ran, that thing would surely follow them when it caught scent of fresh meat. She couldn't let that thing get anywhere near Mary Kay. With that decision, a new feeling came over her as if something had been switched inside her.

Not only had the virus enhanced her physical abilities, but also her more primal instincts and her protective mannerisms. Suddenly, she knew what she had been made to be.

With a confidant and dangerous grin, she pulled her glocks from their holsters at her thighs and held them up by her face so the barrels were parallel to each side. "Stay here," she ordered the fourteen year old girl beside her who nodded. Without pause, Micca turned on her heel to reveal herself, pointing her guns straight out in front of her and pulled the triggers. When the creature-Micca opted to call it a Mega Licker due to its monstrous size and freakishly long tongue-screamed shrilly as the bullets pierced its slimy hide, Micca couldn't help the jolt of satisfaction that slithered up her spine at the sound of its pain, or the excitement at its anger. But the beast didn't fall down. Instead it merely seemed pissed off. Micca grinned and set her feet firmly the ground, centering all of her weight to her feet as the Mega Licker charged her. Without thought, on complete instinct, Micca shifted to the side as the creature came upon her so that it missed her and she wrapped her arms around its mutated neck.

She grinned and vaulted over the Mega Licker's neck, bending it backwards and the creature flipped over onto its back. On impact with the hard asphalt, Micca lost her grip and was launched fifteen feet away, rolling and scraping painfully across the rough surface of the street. She grunted painfully as her back slams violently into the side of an eighteen wheeler denting the side. Micca barely heard Mary Kay's distressed cry before she was up and blocking the girl from the mutated monster's attack. New and animalistic rage washed over the ex-military dog as the thought of something so disgusting had almost hurt one of her pack. Wait. Pack? What the hell? Where did that come from?

The train of confused thought derailed when Micca pulled her KS-23M shot gun from its holster on her back, and a second later, the Mega Licker's head exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter, spackling Micca's clothing in red droplets. With a fluid motion the former soldier replaced the shot gun on her back and held her hand out to Mary Kay who was gawping at her in what Micca knew was awe. The bedazzled teen gripped her new idol's hand in hers and allowed herself to be led deeper into the infected streets of Raccoon City.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay my children, here it is. Chapter 2 of Project Micca. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident evil or its characters but I DO own Micca.

Chapter 2: Finding Answers

Micca couldn't explain it. After her animalistic nature had surfaced during the fight with the Mega Licker, she had this feeling of being pulled in one singular direction, like she was being drawn there. It was so strange; she didn't know what to make of it just yet. She couldn't decide if she wanted to follow this magnetic pull, or avoid it, but just as she was about to give in to curiosity, Mary Kay gripped her arm to halt her in her steps.

"What is it?" she asked her niece as she turned around to face the redhead.

"I uh, I have to go to the bathroom…" the girl said timidly and Micca gave her an exasperated look.

"Are you kidding me? Now?" she asked in annoyance, her voice still low so she didn't draw any unwanted undead attention to them.

The young girl gave her aunt an exacerbated expression, "Well excuse me for having to pee during such frightening experiences," she quipped, matching the irritated glare she received from the military woman.

Micca sighed sharply and vaulted over a tipped K-9 Unit van, turning to help Mary Kay over it so they could go into the nearby gas station for Mary Kay's '_potty break_'. Micca became uneasy once they entered the gas station. It was understandable since the place was covered in blood and had the evidence of a struggle, while the eerie yellow rod lamp was hanging only by one end and was flashing like they were in a bad B-rated horror flick. Trails of blood stained the sickly yellow tile like something had been dragged across it. The cold stench of death and disease permeated the air, coming from every direction through the broken glass windows, confusing Micca's senses, which further uneased the woman. However, before she could tell Mary Kay to turn around and that they'd find someplace else, she found the girl had already left her side and entered the bathroom.

"Shit," she cursed and held her glock out in front of her so she could clear the area. She tried using her sense of smell to sniff out any of the undead, but all the smells were coming from every direction and mixing together that she couldn't discern between the inside or outside of the gas station. So she would have to rely on her hearing and sight, and that wasn't of much comfort to the former military Colonel. Her unease was justified when a zombie snarled behind her, and tackled her as she turned. Her gun clattered to the floor and slid away from her as she cried out in angered surprise and brought her forearm up under it, her wrist at its throat and her elbow across its chest to keep it from getting a bite. She managed to throw it off of her and stand as Mary Kay came bolting out of the bathroom in a fright, "Micca!"

Micca grunted as she blocked the zombie from getting to Mary Kay, and kicked it away, only for another to come from the back storage room, and Micca drew a knife and threw it with startling precision into the zombie's temple, effectively killing it. However, that small distraction gave the zombie she'd kicked away the time to regroup and launch another attack and undead dogs came from the storage room, and were running to Mary Kay who stood frozen in shock at the zombie at her feet. As Micca wrestled off an undead she called out to Mary Kay.

"M.K., get out of here! Go to the church! I'll find you there! Go!" Micca ordered and shoved the zombie away again, pulling her other glock and firing. Mary Kay turned and bolted out the door.

Relieved that her niece was out of the way of any immediate danger, Micca could now focus on the fight at hand. She aimed at the dogs.

Mary Kay had never run so fast in her life. She was petrified, cold with fear. She was sure that her skin had gone paper white with it. She had barely heard Micca tell her to go to the church before she was darting out of the gas station, like Satan himself were at her heels.

She didn't have the slightest idea how she was going to make it there. The undead were everywhere. And those things…Micca had referred to it as Licker- she couldn't possibly out run one of those if she came across one. But she had to try. Micca was counting on her to survive and make it to the church alive.

With new determination, Mary Kay kicked herself to move even faster. She easily reverted back to when she was in Track and field in seventh grade. Her back straightened, her face set in a mask effort and endless concentration as she began to perspire. She kept her breath even, though it was very deep. She had to run halfway across the city to get to the church she knew Micca had been referring to.

She managed to run continuously for a few blocks before she came to an abrupt halt. Her chest heaving, she looked around her. She's come to be in front of an old manufactory building, with undead behind her, and on either side. The only way to go was up, or be eaten.

She voted for the former.

There was a fire escape, but she couldn't reach it if she jumped. She scanned the area quickly for a vault. She prayed she could remember how to vault correctly; it had been so incredibly long since she'd been in gymnastics.

A zombie snarl from her left reminded her she didn't have the time to dawdle. She moved an abandoned motorcycle into place below and in front of the raised fire escape ladder and stepped back a few good yards away; enough to give her enough distance to build up speed.

She set herself to get ready to run as the undead got dangerously nearer, and then shot forward.

She swore it was like those minute of the hour scenes in a movie, when the hero was about to make a leap of faith and it was in slow motion.

As the zombies began to close in on her, she passed them, just barely missing getting grabbed, and she launched off on her foot, lifting the other knee to her chest, as her arms sprawled out for balance. The lifted foot came down only a little ways before it contacted with the seat of the bike.

With a cry of effort, she pushed off with all the strength she could muster to launch herself into the air toward the ladder. Her pony tail whipped out behind her as she flew the short distance, and the zombies converged on the spot she had been scant moments before. With another cry she reached out and caught a rung of the ladder in her hands, and pulled up with her arms. Relief shot through her when she got her feet in another rung, and she was safe from falling into the undead below.

She grinned widely with pride at herself for that magnificent feat she'd just committed. It faded when she realized that now she had to travel along the roof tops of buildings until she was clear of the undead. Great.

She made a mental note that next time, she would leave the heroics to Micca…and maybe find an outfit other than her basketball uniform to survive in in this zombie apocalyptic world.

Micca was seething. She should have known better than to enter a building before clearing it first. Because of her foolish and novice mistake, she'd endangered the teenager. As a result, the girl had to leave to survive on her own until Micca could get to her again. Stupid! How could she have made such a simple mistake!?

She shook her head in anger at herself. Never again. She wouldn't make such a rookie mistake again.

She'd managed to also find a way to ignore the pull she had felt earlier, and was still feeling now, so that she could focus on finding her niece. Stealthily she made her way through the desolate highways of Raccoon City, towards the church she'd instructed Mary Kay to go.

Micca was a killing machine as she came upon a horde of the undead, all of her movements fluid and automatic as she twirled, kicked and tumbled violently through the masses. She found herself becoming more relaxed the more she killed the undead, she found that she rather enjoyed it. That recoil of her guns when she pulled the trigger, the snapping '_fwap!'_ of the string of her bow as she let fly the arrows; the sickening cracks and thumps of flesh hitting flesh and snapping undead bones. She reveled in the rush of adrenaline through her infected blood the excitement of the fight brought into her system.

She was an animal in its prime, ruler of its kingdom. Slowly, yet surely, Micca began to come to terms with the virus in her blood. She became one with it.

Once she'd accepted it, she noticed that killing the zombies became a little easier, like she'd grown even more powerful in mere moments; as did that annoying pull.

She could only hope that accepting the virus hadn't made her a danger to anyone she came into contact with.

Finally, after bounding across the tops of buildings for the better part of an hour and a few city blocks, Mary Kay had the church in sight; though it wasn't like she had been running across them. She was safe up here, so she hadn't been in too much of a frightened rush. That said, Mary Kay looked over the edge of the last building on the side across from the church grounds. She saw a horde of zombies headed towards it. She gasped and climbed down the side of the building-feeling more than a little like Spider Man-and darted across the street, the undead hot on her heels.

The redheaded teen burst through the wooden doors of the church as she heard a man cry out, "wait no!" and then immediately she slammed the doors shut as a S.T.A.R.S. member crashed into it to help her hold the doors shut against the weight of the horde. "Hurry up, put it in there!" she heard him order, then a more nervous looking man with blonde hair stuck an old cross through the handles of the doors and both she and the S.T.A.R.S. member scrambled away from the door.

Mary Kay sighed relief and fell on her rump and leaned back against a pew, "Thanks for the hand..." She muttered. The S.T.A.R.S. member, a bulky black man with gentle eyes nodded to her and offered a hand to help her up.

"You okay?" asked a dark haired woman in a suit asked. Mary Kay recognized her. She blinked.

"Whoa! Terri Morales? Cool," she breathed out with a grin. Terri gave her a kind smile that quickly faded when a familiar metallic screech sounded through the church. Mary Kay unconsciously clung to the S.T.A.R.S. member-his name tag said Peyton- in fear. Peyton patted her reassuringly and pointed his gun up at the ceiling as he ushered the teen to Terri's side. The nervous man whimpered, "I'm outta here!" he exclaimed frightfully and scrambled away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Peyton called after him, but the order fell on deaf ears.

Terri aimed her video camera towards another screech that resounded through to them, echoing off of the cobble stone and brick walls of the church.

"There!" she exclaimed and everyone turned to where she pointed. A dark inhuman figure skittered across the wall and out of sight again. Peyton urged Mary Kay and the others into another room for cover against the creature that was hunting them, and they were there for a good five minutes before the terrified scream of a dying man shot through to their ears, making Mary Kay flinch. She had never heard such a blood curdling sound, and it sent chills scuttling down her spine. A little while later, there were gun shots heard just outside of their sanctuary.

"Peyton!" came a whispered cry. The voice sounded female. A few moments later she called again, more insistently, "Peyton!"

The S.T.A.R.S. member stepped a foot out and grabbed a woman with a bob haircut, a blue top, and a white sweater tied around her waist over black shorts. She had on a side holster and a thigh holster and black knee high boots. She yelped in surprise briefly as Peyton yanked her back into the room with them.

Though it seemed she relaxed once she realized who it was, she still swatted him for his unwelcome surprise as he pointed to one of the creatures that perched on the wall. The new woman nodded, "I know."

"I count three of 'em, they've got us boxed in," he informed her as she shifted away from him, acknowledged Mary Kay with a cursory glance of her eyes.

"Let's go," she gave the order and they all burst from the room, the woman and Peyton with guns blazing. Mary Kay stayed by a pillar while the former news anchor woman, Terri, lay on her stomach on the floor between two pews. Mary Kay squatted down with her hands clasped behind her head like Micca taught her to do when in the middle of gunfire. One of the creatures used its extremely long tongue to yank the pews together, which knocked Peyton over and pinned his leg between them. The gunfire abruptly stopped, making the silence the immediately followed seem stark in contrast. Peyton kicked a pew away from his legs and stood, gun ready, as he and the woman in blue moved to stand back to back. Terri and Mary Kay moved to stand near them. All four survivors scanned the ceilings and walls for the Licker.

"We're going to need more ammo. I'm out," the woman in blue said, just before a licker dropped down from the ceiling in front of Peyton. It moved slowly, as if it knew it had them. Peyton fired his gun, but instead of the thundering bang, there was only a clicking noise.

"Shit, me too," he said and Mary Kay stiffened. They were going to die. They were going to die and Micca was going to blame herself for her death. Sorrow filled Mary Kay at that thought. Micca already hated herself enough.

A rumbling sound started and as it grew louder, the group realized it wasn't a growl from the Licker. It was the sound of a bike. And it was getting incredibly close. The four of them turned just as a motorcyclist burst through the stained glass window above them to land in the aisle. Its rear tire spun out so it was at an angle. The motorcyclist removed his helmet to reveal not a man, but a beautiful woman with blonde hair that just grazed her shoulders.

"Move!" she ordered gruffly and revved the engine of her bike. She flipped off the bike as it shot forward. In a singular fluid motion, she landed on her feet, drew two hand guns from holsters on her thighs and pointed them straight out in front of her. The bike launched into the air and one of the Lickers leapt to meet it. As the two collided, the woman fired and the bike blew up in a heated shower of flame and gore from the Licker in mid air.

The newcomer twirled the guns on her fingers and into her holsters like a gunslinger in an old country western movie. Another licker appeared on the wall and the woman, dressed in an orange tank and mesh shirt and jeans, drew two MP5Ks and fired. The Licker darted away, and the woman kept her fire trained on it. And when it jumped down to avoid being hit, she started firing on the chain links that held the crucifix on the wall. When the licker leapt, the cross came tumbling down, knocking it down and pinning it to the floor.

The third Licker leapt from behind her as she holstered the submachine guns and in the same movement as she turned, she drew a shot gun from her back. She pulled the trigger and the monster rocketed back slamming onto the stairs; dead.

The Licker beneath the cross on the floor stirred. Casually, the woman strolled up and aimed the shot gun at its head. She pulled the trigger, and the last creature was dead.

While Mary Kay stood gawking at this embodiment of majesty, the woman in blue merely seemed put-off by her uninvited interference, and stepped up to her.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" she asked their savior.

The woman holstered her shot gun and regarded her calmly. Mary Kay watched in tense silence. "My name is Alice, and you are?" she replied dryly. The redheaded teen couldn't help the shiver that breezed along her spine at the sound of Alice's voice.

"Jill. Jill Valentine," the dark haired woman replied then motioned to Peyton and Terri, "that's Peyton, and I'm sure you know Terri." Alice regarded each in kind but then her green ringed blue eyes settled on Mary Kay. She gave a small smirk.

"What's your name?" the blonde inquired of the young red head.

The teenager smiled and waved, "I'm Mary Kay, thanks for the help," she said enthusiastically, earning herself a full-although somewhat sad-smile from the older woman.

The blonde turned, "Come on, we should get moving before we attract the attention of anything else," she said with finality and with everyone following behind her left the church building.

She caught scent of her redheaded niece just outside the church building, and went inside. There were traces of the undead outside. Their deathly scent almost completely masked that of the teenage girl's, but now that the experiment was starting to get the hang of her new abilities, picking through the almost overwhelming stench of disease and rot to pinpoint the fresher and more appealing scent of life and blood was easier to do. Mary Kay's scent trail led into the building so Micca followed it. The scene that met her just inside the doors made her halt in her steps. Anxiety gripped her heart like a vice as she scanned the room for any sign of Mary Kay.

It took her a while to sort through all of the scents, but once she had, she knew Mary Kay was still alive, and most likely with some other people. That eased her fears somewhat; knowing that the girl wasn't completely alone. But one scent however, caught her attention more than the others. It was the scent of gunpowder, female musk that was purely unique and a slight overlay of the infection. It seemed almost familiar to her, and she was strangely drawn to it. She also found that this scent was much easier to track than Mary Kay's simply because it stood out so much to her.

So Micca followed it instead of Mary Kay's, since it seemed the two were going to stay closely together. Almost right on top of each other, she realized a little sourly. Whoever the unique scent belonged, Mary Kay seemed oddly attached to. However, this revelation was nothing compared to the jolt she felt when she realized that the scent trail was headed in the _exact same_ direction as she felt that annoying magnetic pull. Though that made following much faster since she no longer needed to sort through so many different scents which hindered her speed and progress.

Micca quickly found herself gaining ground and coming close to her niece as the scents became stronger, indicating they were closer than before, so she broke into a run, hastening in speed when she sensed undead ahead, where she felt the pull the strongest.

Alice lowered her gun and holstered it, "It's nothing personal. But in an hour, maybe two, you'll be dead," she said matter-of-factly, "and moments later, you'll become one of them." She continued. As soon as Peyton had cried out in pain, she'd known he was infected, and knew they should kill him now, but Jill wouldn't have it. She understood. No one wanted to kill someone when they still had a conscience and a soul, it was easier to do it when they were no longer human, but it was safer to do it before they changed. The girl, Mary Kay, stayed close to her as if she was suddenly afraid of the man. She didn't blame her. The teen could only have been fourteen or fifteen, "You'll endanger your friends, and try to kill them. Probably succeed. I'm sorry, but it's just the way it is." She finished.

The man looked away. He knew Alice was right, but he couldn't bring himself to give the word. He wanted to live, as anyone else would, just a little bit longer.

Silence fell over the group like a blanket, and Alice was momentarily distracted by that feeling she got when she felt something powerful drawing near. But it didn't feel like a threat, even if it was obvious it was powerfully strong whatever it was. It also seemed a little…_familiar_, as if she'd sensed it somewhere before, but she couldn't place it.

Her puzzling thoughts were brought to an abrupt end when Terri screamed. Shit, she hadn't even thought about how obvious a threat a fucking graveyard was! A corpse had risen from the ground like a bad B movie and grabbed Terri's ankles, pulling her to the ground. In the same second, more undead had dug up from their graves and were surrounding them.

Alice ran forward and kicked the zombie that had a hold on Terri, while Mary Kay and Jill pulled her up. Alice started fighting off some of them to give everyone time to recollect themselves to get ready to run. She was graceful and powerful, moving from one stance to the next without pause or falter in grace. Smooth and fluid, continuous movement like a dance. After defeating five or so zombies in a matter of seconds, she paused only a moment, automatically kicking behind her as another came near, sensing that powerful presence was upon them and she scanned the immediate area to find a goddess of a woman with black hair fighting off the undead like it was second nature. At first glance, she knew immediately why.

The woman was infected in the same way as herself. She also felt an odd connection of sorts to the woman, and didn't argue when she ordered them to leave. She tried to convince herself it was only because she knew, even before the stranger had said it, that there had been too many and that they had to go in order to survive, but she was only fooling herself.

Alice and her little group of survivors stopped running a few blocks away from the graveyard to take a breather. Mary Kay seemed suddenly frantic, looking around in every direction as if she were looking for something. Alice was about to ask why when the teen suddenly jumped up from her seat on the concrete and moved towards something in front of her.

The blonde followed the direction of the girl's attention and sure enough, the woman from the graveyard was coming towards them, and was only a couple of yards away. That unnerved Alice slightly; she should have been able to hear the woman's approach even if she was an experiment like herself.

"Aunt Micca!" Mary Kay cried as she ran towards the woman, who held her hands out to halt the girl's progress.

"Not now M.K., I'm covered in infected blood," she said firmly, in an effort to protect the girl from accidental infection. Mary Kay seemed to understand and instead only beamed at the older woman, who was apparently her aunt.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Micca, I was so worried," she exclaimed and a faint hint of a smile pulled at the dark woman's lips.

"I was more worried about you. Are you alright?"

Mary Kay nods and the woman, Micca, relaxed a bit more before looking up.

She met Alice's eyes, and Alice could only describe the woman's eyes like ice. They were such a light blue that when you looked into them it was like they pierced straight through to your soul, and they were filled with such a fearful sadness it gave one the feeling of being suddenly cold from the inside. They were also wise and strong beyond compare, and filled with such a cool flame that anyone could know that this woman would do whatever had to be done to protect those she cared for, and eliminate anyone or anything that posed a threat or danger.

Such eyes were a vision to behold, and Alice wasn't sure how long she stared into them, and they into her own. But it mustn't have been long, because no one said anything before Alice turned to face Micca fully.

"We appreciate the help back there," she said in a carefully calculated tone.

"No thanks needed. It's my job," Micca replied without missing a beat. The blonde nodded and motioned to herself and the others.

"I'm Alice, this is Jill Valentine, Peyton and Terri Morales," she offered and each survivor waved in turn, all of them staring at Micca with expressions ranging from caution to awe.

"Micca," the tall woman replied simply and then sharply turned her head like her attention had been captured suddenly and she looked out on the abandoned Raccoon City streets. Alice watched her intently for a while before she sensed a massive horde of undead headed their way.

"We should go. We need to be out of the city before sunrise," Micca announced as she adjusted her archer's gauntlets. Alice narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" she asked curtly and the younger woman faced her.

"Umbrella knows that they can't contain the infection," she replied calmly, "so at sunrise this morning Raccoon City will be completely sanitized."

Alice paled some and Jill and Peyton looked at her in mild alarm, "What do you mean by sanitized?" Terri asked anxiously.

Micca looked at the former news anchor, "Precision Tactical Nuclear Device," she said and Jill almost choked on the cigarette she was smoking.

"What yield!?" Jill demanded.

"Five kilotons."

Jill went wide eyed and stomped out her cigarette, "Fuck me…" she choked out, and Peyton muttered something that sounded like a curse under his breath.

"Micca, what does that mean!?" Mary Kay cried.

"It means it'll destroy the infection, and all evidence of it," Alice answered sharing a look with Micca. She and Jill both looked pissed off.

"Bullshit," Peyton murmured, "that's bullshit! Ain't no fucking way will they get away with that! It'll be all over the fuckin' news!" he yelled angrily, but Terri didn't look so sure.

"Cover up," she said calmly and Micca nodded.

"The cover up is already prepared. A meltdown at the nuclear power plant-," Micca started.

"Tragic accident," Alice finished for her.

"So what do we do now?" Mary Kay asked, looking between Alice and her aunt.

"I think we should be out of here by sunrise," Alice answered, cocking her shot gun.

With the decision made, the six of them started making their way towards the exit of the city.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here it is my pretties. Chapter 3. Enjoy. XOXOXOX

Disclaimer: okay, seriously. Read the first two chapters.

Chapter 3

"Do you have a way to get us out of here?" Alice asked Micca inquisitively, as if she didn't believe she did. Micca didn't read too much into the older woman's tone and instead decided to simply answer her.

"Umbrella has a helicopter ready to transport their lead scientists away from the city," the former colonel replied as she kept looking around, keeping her senses on alert for trouble.

"How heavily guarded will it be?" Jill spoke up, and Micca gave it a thought.

"No idea, actually. My guess would be lightly, given how easily Umbrella seems to dismiss human life."

Suddenly Alice stopped, halfway across the bridge, and Micca looked at her, ready to ask what was wrong but, she sensed something too. It was a dark and unnatural presence, something that was built to destroy. Its aura was oppressive, and sent fear rocketing through both experiments, as well as the urge to fight. This presence could only belong to one creature: Nemesis.

"Nemesis," both women said in unison, looking at each other with wonder. How could both of them possibly know about Nemesis?

Jill watched as something unspoken passed between the two women in front of her and couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

"There's something down there.." the blonde answered as she trained her eyes to the ground below the bridge. Jill looked over, and was joined by Mary Kay, who stepped up beside her.

"I don't see anything," the girl said while looking over at her aunt.

"Well that doesn't alter the fact that there _is_…something down there," Micca told her as she shrugged off her own shot gun and handed it to the teenager. The redhead looked at it with wide eyes then back up at her aunt.

"Dad says girls aren't supposed to use guns…and mom doesn't like them either," Mary Kay said a little panicky. Micca rolled her eyes and huffed in irritation.

"Yea, but neither of them believed that the dead could walk either, did they? Look how that turned out," Micca replied curtly and sighed when the girl still seemed unsure, "Look, I _know_ that you know how to use this. I distinctly recall teaching you how."

Mary Kay couldn't resist the smile that pulled at her lips, "'_Just pull the damn trigger already, Mary Kay_'," aunt and niece said in unison and then breathed a short laugh. Micca nodded and kissed the girl's forehead, then stepped dangerously close to Jill.

"You keep her safe Valentine," she threatened and Jill stood straighter and gave a firm nod, reaching an understanding with the almost imposing younger woman, "Now go."

Without much question, the rest of their party start walking away, but the youngest turns back, "You better come back Micca!"

"When have I not?" was Micca's reply and then the party left and was out of sight.

"Shall we?" Alice asked of her newfound companion. Micca looked at her with those piercing eyes that sent chills down Alice's back, and nodded curtly once.

Without further notice, Alice ran forward and leaped over the railing of the bridge. Micca paused only briefly as she marveled at the blonde then smirked to herself and then did the same. When she landed, the black haired experiment shot forward at a run, and she felt her body and senses come alive, the blood rushing through her veins. She felt her stride lengthen in full as she ran towards Nemesis, only to be launched backwards as a car in front of her exploded. With an angry sneer, she hit the ground and rolled once, to snap onto her feet in a predatory crouch, and the mutated monstrous face of Nemesis was revealed through the haze of smoke. She only half registered the near perfect beastly snarl that rumbled from deep in her chest, building up into her throat and snapping past her bared teeth. It was nearly dog-like in nature but feline in pitch.

She was, however, very much aware of the threat Nemesis posed to Alice, and that she wasn't happy about it at all. She suddenly grew annoyingly anxious, and her eyes flickered back and forth between the blonde and the Umbrella monster when Alice ran past her. Micca was growing more frustrated by the moment, every time she learned something new about what she had become, more questions bubbled up in return. She didn't understand any of it, so she hoped Alice did because she was planning to ask the older woman when they'd finished here. She was quickly learning just how badly she needed answers.

The dark haired soldier shot forward at the exact moment that Alice and Nemesis started firing at each other, and ran around them to try and get a good angle behind the mutated beast to attack. Alice thought it reminded her a bit of a K-9 unit working to give its master the opening they needed. Now that she was thinking about it, a lot of mannerisms in which Micca behaved resembled slightly with an animal. The former Umbrella employee filed the thoughts away for analysis at a later date, and focused on her task at hand. She just barely managed to duck behind a concrete pillar before she could be hit with any bullets. She opted to stay there while she came up with a plan but when she heard Micca cry out in pain shortly before there was a dull crash, she discarded the thought and bolted out from her hiding place and fired on Nemesis to distract him away from her fallen companion.

The lanky blonde ran towards a window of an office building and jumped through it, colliding with a rolling chair, and knocking off papers from a desk in her haste to evade the rain of bullets that had come upon her in Nemesis' pursuit of her. Seconds later, said mutation crashed through the brick wall. Alice darted down a hallway that came to a dead end with rooms on either side of end of the corridor, one of which Micca burst from, saw Alice chased by Nemesis and then promptly kicked her foot through the concrete wall labeled, _"laundry chute"_.

Alice silently thanked the woman for her quick thinking, and slid through the small opening on her back, disappearing down the shaft, with Micca right behind her. Again the thought of a dog showing his trapped master a way out flashed through her mind before it was effectively stripped from her mind when she heard her companion cry out slightly in pain when they both tumbled into a plastic laundry bin, knocking it over just in time to be shielded from an explosion.

There they remained for a few moments before they felt Nemesis leaving the area. Alice stood and stumbled from the bin to lean momentarily exhausted against the wall across from them. She noted how Micca was clammy with sweat, hunched over holding her right leg. She was pale and was clearly trying to even out her breathing through clenched teeth.

"Micca, what is it?" Alice asked with concern, moving to the younger woman's side.

"My leg is broken, my foot shattered…" she ground it, her normally enchanting and strong voice was riddled in pain. Alice immediately moved to the other end of the woman, gripping her ankle as gently and firmly as she could, and looked at Micca who nodded her consent at what Alice thought to do.

Without hesitation, Alice pulled sharply on the younger woman's leg, snapping the bone back into place, making Micca yelp briefly. She was impressed that that was the only noise the ex-soldier made, she would have expected a scream. However, she gained more respect for her when she started realigning the bones in her foot. Not once did Micca utter a sound through the agonizing process of removing the boot and poking and prodding bones into their proper settings.

The blonde let mica rest for a moment before she stood, assisting Micca to her feet as well making sure to take most of the woman's weight off of her injured leg, "We need to get moving, before the undead are drawn to our location," she said quietly, and then started moving forward when Micca agreed with her.

They moved along for a while in silence, before curiosity got the better of the blonde, even if she had already been a little desperate for conversation, "So what did you do before all of this?" she asked of the hard woman.

"I…was in the military, stationed at the Pentagon," Micca replied, faltering a little over the past tense.

"In the military, huh?"

"Yes, I was a colonel. I was brought here a week ago…"

"What do you mean you were 'brought' here?" Alice asked her, thinking she already knew the answer.

"Seven days ago, a scientist of Umbrella came to my station, and gave me an offer that I couldn't refuse…even if it sounded a bit off," the injured experiment replied with conviction. Alice suspected it was conviction towards herself, "it was a lie. It was a lie that I fell for, and because of that…" she faltered.

Alice knew what had happened now, given her own recent experience, but she knew that her companion needed to say it out loud, "What Micca?" she prompted with a firm gentleness that the dark woman greatly appreciated, even if she didn't show it.

"I was experimented on, for seven days while I was incapacitated. I don't know what they injected me with, I don't even remember most of that day," the ex-colonel relented, "I get flashes of things, bits and pieces, but nothing concrete to go on."

"It's the T-Virus," Alice supplied, looking directly into the brunette's eyes, "they injected you with the T-Virus."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh come on, Micca. You already know why I know that," the blonde teased mildly.

"So I wasn't imagining things…I could sense it in you.." Micca whispered.

"Uh-huh, I was head of security at a secret Umbrella facility called The Hive, located beneath the streets of Raccoon City," Alice began, and Micca gave her full attention to the blonde, "the facility was a high tech laboratory researching Experimental Viral Weaponry. One of the viruses being researched was the T-Virus. I had joined forces with an environmentalist named Lisa to come up with the evidence of the virus to bring the Corporation down.

"I had access to security codes, surveillance plans, the works," Alice guided Micca over to a shop that had ammunition and some handguns so that they could restock, "everything she would need to successfully steal the virus, but my partner Spence had found out about our plans and decided he would instead steal the virus to sell it to the highest bidder. He let the virus out into The Hive, and when the escaped infection was detected by the A.I. called the Red Queen," the blonde paused to reload her glocks, "she went homicidal, and attempted to kill everyone in the building whether they had been infected or not. I managed to escape with one other, Lisa's brother Matt. But then me and Matt were separated and taken by Umbrella scientists…the last thing I remember is waking up in a white room with nothing but a paper sheet covering my body and I was attached to numerous tubes. It was then that I realized I had been infected with the T-Virus. I don't remember much of my time there either, but I keep getting flashes of a man in a lab coat, but I can't quite recall his face..."

Micca had sat and listened intently to Alice as she told her tale, and when the blonde finished she nodded, "Well, it seems you and I are in the same proverbial boat." She drawled and was rewarded with a small smirk, "However, I have the sneaking suspicion that we are more closely linked than we currently realize."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because from what I am gathering, I didn't wake up until you did."

Alice was silent a moment after she stilled, "Oh my god…" she breathed in alarm, making Micca stiffen, "I think we need to have a look at some Umbrella files, and I know just where to find them."

"The helicopter," Micca suggested and the blonde nodded in response.

Micca didn't quite follow Alice's train of thought, but in their short time together she had learned to just trust Alice's instincts without question. It may be just because they had a mutual bond through their experiences with Umbrella, but right now, Micca didn't have much choice but to place her trust in the introverted blonde until her leg had healed. So together they headed for the Umbrella chopper.

Mary Kay yelped when Carlos appeared behind her from seemingly nowhere, "Dammit Carlos! Stop doing that!" she cried in an angry whisper. The tall and dark haired male simply smirked.

She and Jill had met Carlos almost two hours ago when he'd saved them from Peyton who had turned just as Alice said that he eventually would. Jill wouldn't admit it but, Mary Kay and Carlos both knew that the brunette had taken it a little hard. Jill still went about their mission however, determined to get everyone to safety and out of the damned city. Mary Kay admired her for it, even if it was a bit annoying. The teen had also taken a liking to Carlos Olivera. She found him to be the father figure she'd wanted from her own father but had never received.

They'd also lost Terri to Peyton's attack. She'd been bitten on the throat and had bled out in seconds. The entire ordeal had been traumatizing to the redheaded girl, but she was finding herself more resilient than the average teen -no doubt taking after her aunt—and had quickly bounced back from it to return to her usual optimistic self.

"Watch your language M.K.," came a familiar voice in the distance which caused the athlete to spin around. When she saw her favorite brunette and blonde coming towards them the girl dashed off to them.

"Micca! Alice! I'm so glad you're okay," she exclaimed leaping into her aunt's arms. The older female grunted and stumbled a bit at the impact of her body slamming into her own, but quickly stabilized and wrapped an arm around the redhead. She stubbornly ignored the ache in her now mostly healed leg.

"Well hello to you too," she wheezed out, making Alice snort. The two women had grown only a bit closer in their journey to meet the rest of the group, but it was enough to breed for an easy companionship.

M.K. bounced backwards with a gasp, "Oh! Sorry!" she exclaimed with a blush, and earned herself a warm chuckle from the blonde, and then blushed further.

Micca raised a brow at the girl but didn't say a thing before Alice walked forward to Jill to talk with her quietly.

"So, wanna tell me who the buck is?" Micca asked dryly, raising an eyebrow in the direction of the latino man.

Mary Kay laughed, "Sorry, Micca. This is Carlos Olivera," she answered as Carlos walked over and Micca shook his hand.

"No shit. Carlos? Damn, rookie, I hardly recognized you," Micca said and Carlos smirked.

"It's my flawless charm," he told her and Micca rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, man. If it helps you stick it." The ex-colonel retorted, which made him laugh out loud and M.K. cover her face in embarrassment.

"Hey, guys, we don't have time for reminiscing!" Jill called to them.

Carlos, M.K., and Micca followed her and Alice as they started towards the company building where the chopper was located.


End file.
